Florence + The Machine Dog Days Are Over Lyrics

Last updated: 04/11/2012 11:00:00 AM

Sponsored Links

Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with her drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
'Cause here they come

And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back
Struck from a great height by someone who should know better than that

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
'Cause here they come

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
'Cause here they come

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

"Dog Days Are Over" is the second single released by Florence and the Machine from their debut album Lungs. It was originally scheduled for release on November 24, 2008 through Moshi Moshi Records in the UK but was later pushed back for release on December 1, 2008. A day later on December 2, 2008 the single was released in download and seven inch vinyl format through IAMSOUND Records in the US. The B-side to the single is a cover of "You Got the Love" by The Source featuring Candi Staton which later was confirmed as a track on their debut album and the band's fifth single. A demo version of "Dog Days Are Over" is featured on disc two of the deluxe edition of Lungs. The single reached the top 30 in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"Dog Days Are Over" was recorded with no instruments in a studio the "size of a loo".[2] The song was inspired by a giant text installment titled "Dog Days Are Over" by artist Ugo Rondinone, which Welch used to see every day, riding her bike over Waterloo Bridge. The song was produced and mixed by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco and The Last Shadow Puppets, who is also famous for producing for the likes of Bloc Party and the Arctic Monkeys. He is also credited as playing piano and guitar on the record. Florence co-wrote the song with Isabella Summers who is also credited as the song's co-producer, and played piano on the record. Welch and Summers also teamed up for the percussion on the track, together with Charlie Hugall. "Dog Days Are Over" also features musicians Tom "Moth" Monger (harp), Bruce White (viola), Everton Nelson (violin), Christopher Lloyd Hayden (drums) and Rob Ackroyd (guitar). Jimmy Robertson, extensively involved in the recording of Lungs recorded and mixed "Dog Days Are Over" as well.

An acoustic version of the song was performed live on BBC's Radio 1 Big Weekend. The track has been performed at a great number of high profile festivals through 2008 and 2009, including the Reading and Leeds festivals. The band also performed the song on the Mercury Prize 2009 awards show and BBC Introducing.

A six-minute, forty-second-long Optimo remix of "Dog Days Are Over" has also been made available.

The song was used in an advertisement for programming on RTÉ and in an episode of BAFTA Award-winning teen drama Skins. In 2010 it was used in an advertising campaign for the television premiere of Slumdog Millionaire on Channel 4. It was used in a promo for the first series of CBBC series, Deadly 60. It was also heard in the NBC medical drama Mercy, and used during a promotional video for the show. In addition the song was used in Episode 3.8 of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. It also featured in Gossip Girl Season 4 Episode 14. In March 2010, the song was used in the theatrical trailer for Eat, Pray, Love. The song was used in July 2010 for a commercial for Covert Affairs and was used in the pilot of the series. The song was used extensively in Australia during winter in 2009, for advertising for the latter half of the 2009 AFL season. This song was covered by Amber Riley (Mercedes) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina) from Glee on the second season episode "Special Education" in November 2010. The song has also been used extensively in a series of television advertisements by Telus in Canada.

The background music of the song is also featured in a promotional video for the 1GOAL Education for All campaign called "2 girls born on the same day".

Florence and the Machine performed the song at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in December 2010. They performed it on the June 21, 2011, episode of The Colbert Report. From Wikipedia